In this morning's news: Medicaid expansion, the Willow Run Bomber Plant, and pet coke removal

A Michigan Senate committee has approved a plan to expand Medicaid. The bill would allow thousands more Michigan residents to receive coverage. Michigan Radio’s Jake Neher reports that the committee also approved two alternative bills that would not expand Medicaid. The proposed bills are expected to reach the Senate floor in late August.

Demolition of Willow Run Bomber Plan delayed

The Willow Run Bomber Plant has received an extension on its demolition deadline. Michigan Radio’s Rina Miller reports that “the trust overseeing the property gave a non-profit group two extra months to raise 8 million dollars.” The Yankee Air Museum hopes to renovate and move into the space that helped inspire the “Rosie the Riveter” character.

Detroit Bulk Storage will halt pet coke shipments

Yesterday a hearing was held at Detroit City Hall about the storage of petroleum coke along the riverfront. Detroit Bulk Storage has been piling the substance there for months without a permit. Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek reports that local residents and organizations voiced their opposition to storing the pet coke in the city.

A young woman dressed in dark-blue coveralls, her hair tied up with a red-and-white polka-dot bandana, waved to passersby and distributed small postcards during rush hour at a busy Ann Arbor intersection.

Alison Beatty, a political science student at the University of Michigan, got plenty of attention in her Rosie the Riveter costume.

An interview with Dennis Norton and Ray Hunter from the Yankee Air Museum.

When you think about what it took for the United States and our Allies to win World War II, it wasn't just up to the troops fighting in Europe and the Pacific, the war was waged on the home front as well.

And a big chunk of real estate in Ypsilanti was one of the most important spots in the nation for that war effort: the Willow Run Bomber Plant.

It was built by the Ford Motor Company to turn out B-24 Liberator bombers.

At the peak of its war effort, Willow Run turned out one Liberator bomber every 59 minutes. And 42,000 workers kept those bombers coming, earning the plant its nickname of "The Arsenal of Democracy."

Willow Run was also where Rose Will Monroe hired on to work as a riveter. She appeared in a film aimed at getting women out of the home and into the plants to help the war effort, and that led to the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” image and hit song.

These days, the future of Willow Run is cloudy.

It had been a GM plant, but Willow Run was discarded by GM during its bankruptcy woes in 2009.

Now, the Yankee Air Museum is hoping to buy a good-sized piece of the historic plant for a new home, thus saving the plant from the wrecker's ball and helping grow the museum.

Dennis Norton, founder of the Yankee Air Museum, and Ray Hunter, the current Chair of the Museum as well as a pilot and former Air Force colonel, joined us today.